


things you didn't say at all

by bananannabeth



Series: things you said when... [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 02:11:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13261431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bananannabeth/pseuds/bananannabeth
Summary: a look at the moments where percy and annabeth didn't need words to explain how they felt





	things you didn't say at all

 

**.13 years old  
**

 

Without a word, they fell into position; back to back, stepping in perfect time, weapons raised. Percy didn’t need to tell Annabeth when to move - he could feel it in the tension of her muscles, hear it in the weight of her steps, sense it beyond any rationale. They made their first strikes at the same time, and rather quickly the monsters who’d surprised them in a corner of Grand Central were gone, nothing but dust sweeping across the floor.

 

Annabeth sheathed her dagger and grinned at him. “Reflexes have gotten a bit slower, Seaweed Brain.”

 

“Oh, like you can talk, Owl… Head…” he replied, trying to think of a witty nickname in retort and failing.

 

She laughed, probably at the way his eyebrows were scrunched together in concentration as much as at the crappy nickname. “Don’t ever call me that again.”

 

Before he could reply, she turned to lead the way out of the station. Percy collapsed Riptide and followed her at a run, too proud to call out for her to wait up.

 

* * *

 

 

**.15 years old**

 

Annabeth was sitting across the campfire, at the back of a huddle of Athena campers. Percy had a direct view of her above the flames, and he was too busy staring at her to pay any attention to what Travis was saying. He could hear the other boy talking beside him, saying something about a new prank he had planned to try and ‘lighten things up’ - but Percy’s entire consciousness had narrowed to the curve of Annabeth’s shoulders, the downturn of the corners of her lips, the way the edge of her ponytail fell forward over her collar. She looked so sad.

 

They hadn’t spoken in three days.

 

Sometimes Percy wondered if the kiss she’d given him in that volcano had been a dream.

 

“Dude.” Travis punched Percy’s shoulder, snapping him abruptly back to attention. “Are you even listening?”

 

“Yeah,” Percy said, flinching slightly when the word came out in a snap. He rubbed his arm absentmindedly and sighed. “Sorry, no. I’m a little… out of it.”

 

Travis looked confused, until he glanced across and saw Annabeth. His eyes widened with realisation. “Ooh. Yeah, man, that’s not good.”

 

“What’s not good?” Panic twisted Percy’s stomach and made his voice rise in pitch. If the other campers were talking about his fight with Annabeth, it might be worse than he thought. “What is it?”

 

Travis leant back and held his hands up, palms out. “Nope, I’m not getting involved.”

 

Percy narrowed his eyes at him. “What’s Katie told you?”

 

“Look, just…” Travis gulped. He visibly debated with himself for a few seconds before saying, “Maybe you should talk to her about it?”

 

“Talk about what?”

 

“I dunno… Apologise, maybe?”

 

“Apologise?! What do I have to apologise for? I haven’t even done anything,  _she’s_  the one acting all -”

 

Percy was so wound up he didn’t catch Travis’s panicked expression until it was too late. The words died on Percy’s lips as he saw a flash of blonde hair in his periphery. He looked over just in time to see Annabeth stomping towards him, expression murderous. He stared at her, half of him wanting to run away and hide, half of him ecstatic at the chance to talk to her again, even if the talk was probably going to involve a lot yelling.

 

But she turned at the last second, heading in the direction of the beach, and just before she went Percy swore he saw a tear fall down her cheek. He wanted to call out after her, but he had no idea what to say. He watched her retreat, feeling sick to his stomach, and tried to figure out what the hell was happening to them.

 

Travis clapped a hand on his shoulder and clucked sympathetically. “Like I said, man - apologising might be the smart thing to do.”

 

Percy shrugged him off and snarled, “She’s the smart one, not me.”

 

* * *

 

 

**.16 years old**

 

Sometimes Annabeth needed some silence. After the war, it was a bumpy road to settle back into life at camp. Everything felt irrevocably different; she’d once confided to Percy that she couldn’t figure out whether it was the camp or her that had changed more, and nothing terrified Annabeth more than not having an answer.

 

A week after their return, he found her sitting on the beach, eyes red rimmed and shadowed. Apart from a slight tensing of her shoulders, Annabeth didn’t move when Percy sat down next to her. He propped his chin on her shoulder and gazed down at the shape she’d drawn in the sand - a trident. When he lifted the hand she was using to fingerpaint up to get a better look at the design, she brought her other one round and wiped some sand on his cheek.

 

He spluttered dramatically and wiped it away, shaking his head and trying to prevent her from doing it again. She was smiling as she climbed into his lap and wiggled her dirty fingers in front of his eyes, and he was laughing as he let her get in a cheap shot and smudge some sand on the tip of his nose.

 

If it hadn’t been for the shadows in her eyes, or the scratches on her skin, Percy almost wouldn’t have believed this was the same girl he went through Tartarus with. But of course it was; this Annabeth, now using her sleeve to clean his face, was the same Annabeth who’d fought with him through the deepest pits of hell, and she was the same Annabeth who’d kissed him for the first time in a volcano, and she was the same Annabeth as the girl who’d sat in the back of a Kindness International truck and made him feel like maybe they could be proper friends after all.

 

There were a million things Percy wanted to say to her; we’re home, we’re safe, we’re together; we made it, we did it, we won; I’m so proud of you, I love you. He wanted to thank her, for saving his life, over and over, in more ways than he could fathom.

 

But Percy had never been good with words.

 

So he grabbed her hands and held them still, and he kissed her, softly and sweetly, on the sand of the camp beach. He tried to pour every bit of emotion he had into that kiss. He tried to make it reassuring, and loving, and hopeful, and gentle, and everything that Percy had promised himself he was going to be for Annabeth, for the rest of his life. Her hands snaked into his hair, carding through the dark strands, and his arms wound around her waist and held her tight as they kissed, and in the end neither of them said anything at all.

 

After all, Percy had a feeling Annabeth already knew everything anyway. 

 

 


End file.
